Brave
by BecaBeale126
Summary: The Bellas go out to celebrate initiation and Beca confronts a robber. Chloe and Beca become closer as they join together with the Trebles and the rest of the Bellas to find out who the criminal was. Bechloe endgame with slight Staubrey.
1. Chapter 1

Beca let out a groan as she slipped a t-shirt over her head. The Bellas were going out to a Fairground for some bonding time and while she didn't mind spending time with the girls, Beca had mixes to make if she was ever going to make it to LA. What do you even wear to a fairground anyway? There was quite a wind blowing so Beca grabbed a leather jacket before heading out the front door and hoping that the t-shirt and jeans she was wearing was up to Aubrey's standards.

The Bellas had agreed to meet at 6pm and looking at her watch Beca saw she was 10 minutes late already so she ran down the stairs and into the parking lot where she was met with a look of distain from the Bella's captain.

"We were supposed to be meeting nearly quarter of an hour ago, I suppose you were too busy making out with Jesse to get your sorry arse into gear"

Beca had just about had it with Aubrey moaning at her and was about to give her a piece of her mind when a bright eyed redhead tapped Aubrey on the shoulder and whispered a few words in her ear. Aubrey rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath before turning and getting into the bus.

Chloe winked at Beca before announcing that if they were ever going to get to the fair they would need to leave now. Beca saw the wink and a funny feeling settled in her stomach. She decided it was anger directed at Aubrey and followed the rest of the Bellas onto the bus. The ride was reasonably uneventful and they Bellas had reached the carnival by7pm.

Beca had never been to a fairground before and was amazed by the rides that were there. She had assumed that all there would all be those games that are ridiculously expensive and no-one ever won anything but there seemed to be some rides that really good to Becas surprise. Just then Fat Amy walked straight into someone holding a corndog and after some apologising it was decided that food was needed. They all headed to a burger stand soon were all tucking into fries and hotdogs.

Beca was sitting on a bench besides Stacie discussing who they thought was going to throw up first when she looked up and was met with deep blue eyes staring back at her, Chloe made her way over to them and before Beca had a chance to say anything Chloe sat down beside her and reached into her lap to steal some of her fries.

"If you wanted some then you could just buy your own you know?"

Chloe raised one of here perfectly sculpted eyebrows before responding "yeah but where is the fun in that? It's much more fun to steal yours and Aubrey's"

"Speaking of the She Devil what did you say to her earlier because it looked like she was ready to kill me before you stepped in, did you exorcise her or something?" Chloe giggled before shaking her head and explaining that Aubrey had been having a tough time recently.

"It's to do with her dad, he is really strict and wants her to go off to law school like her older brother but she wants to major in Spanish I told her to cut you some slack since you were both in the same situation with your dads"

"Wow thanks, maybe now she will stop harassing me about the whole Jesse thing"

"Well I wouldn't bet on it, she might be going easy on you but I don't think she will stop all together she is still Aubrey. What is going on between you two anyway? Was there any truth in that statement earlier?"

Beca couldn't help but wind Chloe up "yeah actually, we've been going out for the last couple of months".

"Oh right, well I'm happy you found someone, everyone thought you were a couple anyway."

Beca thought she heard some disappointment in her voice, it was probably because she thought she broke her promise she made when she became a Bella. "I'm only kidding Chloe, he is a nice guy but he keeps trying to make me watch movies with him and honestly it's a bit annoying."

Chloe immediately brightened up and then jumped up. "Come on, we have some rides to go on!"

She grabbed Becas hand and dragged her towards a rollercoaster only as Beca studied the ride she noticed the train currently moving up the beginning of the tracks and felt like she was going to be sick. "Chlo I'm not sure I can do that one, maybe another time"

"Oh don't be silly! It will be gre…" Chloe started before noticing the look on Becas face.

"Wait a minute… Are you scared of heights?"

Beca stared at her feet not wanting to make eye contact and admit she was scared of something. "I can't believe I didn't know this! We are all strapped in up there, it's not like anything could happen to us"

"Sorry but haven't you seen that Final Destination? You know the one where everyone dies because of the rollercoaster? I'm sorry you're just going to have to do that one without me,"

Chloe took Becas hand and immediately Beca calmed down "Hey don't worry about it, everyone is scared of something, we can do something else instead, I think if I go on anything spinning right now my dinner will be making a reappearance"

"Well there is that dodgems ride over there, we could have a go at that"

Chloe called over the other girls and soon all the Bellas were queuing up for the dodgems. Beca was leaning against the railings in the queue when she felt hands on her hips and some very prominent breasts resting against her back, she was about to turn around when she felt lips brush against the shell of her ear,

"Fancy going in a car with me?"

That was a voice she well knew, she turned round to stare once again into deep blue eyes, and with Chloe's hands still resting on her hips Beca became very aware of their position. She tried to back away, anything to get out of the position they were in because she was sure she would do something she would regret if she stayed in close proximity to Chloe for much longer. Beca cleared her throat "sure, but I'm driving!"

Chloe pursed her lips but reluctantly agreed and then went off in the direction of Aubrey. Beca instantly missed the warmth provided by Chloe's presence and leant up against the railings with a sigh; maybe being in close proximity to Chloe was a bad idea.

Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose had been watching the interaction between the two girls. There was clearly something going on between the two of them, whether they knew it or not was a completely different matter. They decided to see how the evening played out, sure that eventually the sexual tension between the two of them would be resolved.


	2. Chapter 2

The girls finally got to the front of the queue and were onto the rides, there wasn't really enough room in the cars for two people so Chloe ended up half sat on Becas lap. There was the bell for the start of the session and Beca immediately set off trying to find the car with Aubrey and Stacie in. This might be her only chance to hit Aubrey without any repercussions. Beca was driving round trying to find them when their car took a massive hit to the side. They both turned round to see the car that had hit them and they were met with Stacie and Aubrey in hysterics. That was it. This was war.

Beca took off in the direction of their car; they had just crashed into Fat Amy and Lilly and were currently stationary. Beca flawed the accelerator and they shot towards the car. Stacie turned around briefly to see the car flying towards them before the two cars met with a bang. Aubrey turned around to glare at them both but Beca just gave her a wink before driving off to find Cynthia Rose and Denise.

They had been driving around for a while before they were met with a crash to the side that sent Chloe flying on top of Beca's lap. Chloe's hand had landed just at the apex of Beca's thighs sending a shiver through Becas body. She could feel Chloe's hand pressing into her and when she moved her hand away Beca was sure she would combust at any second. She felt her face flush and looking at Chloe she could see she wasn't the only one.

"Oh God I am so sorry, that car just came out of no-where!"

Beca was about to launch into an apology herself when there was a bell for the end of the session and they had to leave the ride as quickly as possible.

The Bellas walked around the carnival before Fat Amy challenged any of the Bellas to beat her at a bucking bronco. "I would beat any of your skinny asses; I used to wrestle with crocs back home."

So one by one the Bellas each got on the bronco seeing who could last the longest. Naturally fat Amy went first and Beca thought she did a pretty good job, she lasted about double the time that either Stacie or Aubrey could do and just as Jessica was getting on the ride there was a scream from across the park.

"That man has my purse!"

Beca frantically searched for the man when she saw a tall figure running away. She sprinted after him not hearing the cries from the Bellas behind her telling her not to go.

She weaved through the masses of people desperately trying to catch up with the man. He ran around a corner and she could see where he was heading, the exit of the park was in that direction but she had a more direct route.

She pushed through the crowds trying to get them to move out of the way before arriving at the gate just in time to stick her foot out and send the man flying. He was lying face down on the ground she could see the purse and flung it towards the carnival hoping someone would return it to the woman.

Then the man started to get up and Beca knew she couldn't let him get away so she gave chase to him. He ran down the road before turning into a back alley. Beca ran in when she found herself face to face with the man.

"You really should learn to keep out of other people's business"

It was only then that Beca noticed the knife in his hand, felt her back against a wall and she realised how much trouble she was in.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe and the other Bellas had been following Beca through the carnival and saw her trip the man up. After Beca had tossed away the purse Chloe had assumed that Beca would leave it at that and leave the man alone who was nearly twice the height of her. So when she saw Beca give chase to this man and run after him down the road she nearly had a heart attack. Leaving the other Bellas to deal with the distraught woman she ran after Beca.

Chloe saw the direction in which Beca had run but hadn't seen how far she had followed the man. She kept running imagining the worst when she was crashed into by a man in a hoodie.

Chloe was about to call after him to remind him of his manners when she heard a whimper coming from the alleyway from which the man had just run. Realisation hit Chloe like a train and she felt the blood drain from her face. She ran to the alleyway just in time to see Beca who was surrounded by a puddle of blood.

Chloe ran to her and remembering her first aid training she took off her jumper and pressed it against Beca's wound. She cried out for help, desperately hoping anyone would hear her when there was a shout from down the road and Aubrey and Stacie came running in.

"Someone phone an ambulance!" screamed Chloe, there were tears running down her face.

"Beca you need to hang on for me ok, you can't leave me I won't let you, please Beca please just don't leave me"

Aubrey took off her jumper too and handed it to Chloe "come on we need to keep pressure on it while the ambulance gets her"

They could all hear sirens in the distance and so while Stacie waited out in the road to direct the ambulance in. The wait was excruciating, Chloe put her cheek up to Becas mouth to check that she was still breathing while Aubrey held the jumper against her stomach.

Then everything seemed to happen all at once, the ambulance had arrived and stretchers came out.

"Hello girls, once we get her to the hospital you will all need to speak to a police officer to tell them what happened ok?

The three girls nodded and then noticed the other Bellas running towards them,

Cynthia rose was first to figure out what had happened. "What happened? Is Beca ok?!"

While Stacie and Aubrey went over to explain what had happened Chloe went to speak to the ambulance crew.

"Please let me go with her, I need to make sure she is ok, please I would die if anything happened to her."

"Ok ok get in, we are leaving now"

Chloe sprinted to the back of the ambulance while giving a quick shout to Aubrey to let them know what happening. Chloe sat down next to Beca and held her hand unsure of what else to do. She hadn't even thought about God since she was about 10 but now found herself praying for Becas safety.

The trip was only short and when they got to the hospital Beca was shipped across to surgery and Chloe was left just standing in the middle of a corridor. She wasn't sure what was happening but knew that she wasn't leaving that hospital until she knew Beca was okay.

Chloe remembered the other Bellas and texted Aubrey to let her know where they had taken her. She wasn't sure if she could handle speaking to anyone right now, Chloe had never been so scared in her life, what would she do if Beca didn't make it?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a woman dressed in a white tunic "hi are you with the young lady that has just come in?"

"Yes, she went straight into surgery and I don't know what's happening to her or if I need to go anywhere or do anything..."

"Ok well she is in surgery now but first I need you to tell me who she is and then I can find out for you how she is doing"

Chloe immediately rattled off all of Becas information and realised that her dad had no idea what was going on.

"Excuse me I just need to call someone"

Chloe picked up her phone and searched for Dr Mitchell's phone number, she rang but it went straight to voicemail.

"Hi Dr Mitchell, its Chloe Beale, the Bellas went out to the carnival in Atlanta tonight and Beca was stabbed, she has been taken to Atlanta Medical Centre and has gone into surgery. You need to get down here as quickly as possible. Ok bye."

Chloe went back to the seats just in time to see the nurse coming out of the surgery ward, she could tell by the look on her face that things were not going well.

"I'm afraid it's not good news, the knife punctured her liver and she has lost an awful lot of blood and is in a critical condition, in these sorts of situations there is generally a 20% survival rate, we are doing our best though so don't lose hope."

"No." Chloe felt like she had been punched in the stomach, her legs went weak she fell to the floor.

Everything went black.

...

Thanks for all the reviews guys! Sorry the chapters are quite short at the moment, they will be getting longer soon.

xx


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe awoke in a strange bed with Aubrey standing next to her. Her head was pounding and then Chloe realised what had happened. She sat up quickly.

"Where is Beca, I need to see her, what's happened? Is she out of surgery?"

Aubrey took Chloe's hand, "she is still in surgery, they have been working on her for the last 5 hours, its 6am why don't you try getting some sleep"

"No I can't, why did this have to happen to her? She was the best of us." Chloe collapsed in Aubrey's arms "I can't lose her."

The two girls stayed there for a while before Chloe decided she needed to get out of bed. She swung her legs of the bed and stood up.

Chloe's head rushed and the edges of her vision went blurry.

"Ok maybe you should take it a bit slower, you will be no use to Beca if you faint again" Aubrey caught Chloe just as she started to fall.

"Maybe we should take it slowly, there is a vending machine round the corner so I will grab us something to eat and we can take on the hospital later" Aubrey walked off round the corner while Chloe sat herself back down on the side of the bed.

Aubrey came back with some no brand chips and very weak coffee. Chloe gave Aubrey and incredulous look. "It may only be hospital food but it's better than nothing" Chloe's stomach rumbled so she quickly devoured the chips.

The girls had just finished up their coffee when there was a knock at the door, it was the nurse again.

"Beca has just come out of surgery, she was very lucky, it appears that she didn't lose as much blood as we initially thought and she should be ok. Whoever kept the pressure on her wound with those jumpers almost certainly saved her life."

Both of the girls immediately burst into tears, thanking God that their fiery DJ was going to be ok.

"there was also one other thing, we looked on file for anyone we should call but there doesn't seem to be anyone, as she is 18 it is not a legal requirement for us to call her parents."

Both girls nodded understanding that Dr Mitchell he wouldn't know until they found him.

"Chloe I'm going to go and let the other girls know, they dropped me off here and went back to Barden to see if they could get hold of Dr Mitchell but I don't think he is here yet"

"I'm going to go and see Beca, oh Brey I'm so happy she is ok"

The girls then went her separate ways, after inquiring about Becas whereabouts Chloe found herself at the foot of Becas bed. There were wires everywhere and she looked so pale but the uniform beeping of her heart rate monitor reassured Chloe that everything was going to be ok.

She sat in the chair next to the bedside and her mind wandered to Becas father, why wasn't he here yet? What could possibly be more important than Beca being nearly killed?

Chloe chocked up at the thought but quickly pulled herself together. That was not going to happen Beca was a fighter and if anyone could get through this she could. Meanwhile there were things to be done; they had still heard nothing from Dr Mitchell. Chloe decided that this was paramount to anything else and called Aubrey.

"Dr Mitchell is still not here, you need to find him, I will keep trying his number and see if I can find any way to get his house number"

Even as Chloe said this she realised that Beca would have had her phone on her.

"Damn it, sorry Brey I've just thought of something, I have to go, keep searching for him. Ok Bye"

Chloe hung up and eventually found a lady in nurse's uniform that looked like they may be able to help.

"Hi sorry, I'm with Beca Mitchell and it's just her dad hasn't showed up yet, I was wondering if you had her belongings she came in with."

Recognition flashed across the woman's brown eyes "oh that poor girl, she had such a horrible accident didn't she, of course, I will go and see where they put everything."

"Thank you so much!" Chloe called after the nurse who was already jogging down the corridor, brown ponytail swinging behind her.

Chloe went back to sit next to Beca to await the nurses return, that was when she heard "right this way sir, Beca is just round here." Chloe jumped up ready to tell Dr Mitchell exactly what had happened when someone she was not expecting walked round the corner.

"Jesse?"

To say Chloe was shocked was an understatement.

"Chloe what happened? Why was she by herself when she was stabbed? You should know better than to leave another girl by herself at night, now look what's happened!"

Jesse was getting closer and closer to Chloe, he grabbed her arm.

"Don't you see? This is your fault; she didn't even want to go to your stupid night out anyway" He was almost shouting now.

Chloe shook her arm desperately trying to get him off her "Please Jesse you're hurting my arm, I didn't mean to, she just ran off after that man by hers…"

Just then there was a shout from behind Jesse. "Get your hands off her!"

It was the nurse again. "You should know better than to assault a girl while she is in hospital, now get out!"

Jesse looked stunned, Chloe was unsure if he didn't realise how close he had got to her or if he wasn't expecting to be confronted.

"Why me? It's her fault Beca is in here to start with!" he said pointing a finger at Chloe.

"Yes it is." The nurse was nodding her head

"Wait what?" both Jesse and Chloe turned their heads unsure that they had heard correctly.

"If this young woman had not been there then Beca would be in a morgue right now instead of alive in a hospital bed. She saved her life and now you are giving her a hard time about it. You are a disgrace; now get out before I call security"

Chloe collapsed in the chair while Jesse shot her an apologetic look before sulking away.

"I'm so sorry about that, boys can be so immature sometimes so don't listen to a word he said. Anyway hun I got you those things you were asking for, the phones out of charge but I stole a charger from one of the doctors desks, I'm sure he won't mind." The nurse gave her a quick wink "I thought that was what you might be after most but I thought I had better bring the rest of it too"

Chloe turned to plug in the charger before turning back to thank the nurse but she had already gone.

Now all she had to do was wait.

After only about 10 minutes though the phone had charged enough to turn on, several messages had popped up when the phone had been turned on. Chloe went straight to contacts and found Home.

She dialled and was suddenly extremely nervous. How would Dr Mitchell react to them not being able to contact him earlier?

"Hello?"

"Um hi is Dr Mitchell there?"

"I'm afraid not, he hasn't lived here for the last 5 years I'm afraid"

"I'm sorry who is this? I think I might have got the wrong number, I'm phoning about Beca"

"This is Rachel Mitchell, Becas mother, has something happened?"

Chloe froze- how could she have forgotten that her parents had split up?

"She… she was in an accident, she is ok now though… we are at Atlanta Medical Centre"

"I'm on my way; I will call you when I arrive"

The phone line went blank.

"Oh my God! How could I have been so stupid? You don't stop having a mother just because your parents split up! And now I am talking to myself. Great."

"It is the first sign of crazy you know"

Chloe's head shot up, Aubrey and Stacie were standing straight in front of her.

"Oh god am I pleased to see you guys, you will never guess what just happened."

Chloe went on to explain the whole story starting from when Jesse arrived.

"That complete acca-douche! Eugh I am going to slap him so hard he's going to wish he was never born!"

"Ok calm down Aubrey, I'm sure he will come to his senses soon although it might take him a little longer as he is a boy." Stacie had put her hand on Aubrey's shoulder and immediately she had relaxed.

"That's weird…" thought Chloe but she didn't have time to say anything as just that second Becas phone started to ring.

"It's Becas mum…" Chloe whispered before answering

"Hello? Yeah…. Yeah… I don't think so…. We are in the East wing… yeah ground floor. Ok Bye"

Chloe hung up before walking off, she turned and called back to them

"Going to meet her mum! Will be back in a minute!"

Chloe walked round the corner to the entrance of the ward and sat at the front desk.

There weren't that many people around the ward but Chloe knew Becas mum as soon as she saw her.

Chloe got up and started to walk over to the shorter woman. She had long brown hair just like Beca's but tinged with grey; the most striking thing about her though was the deep blue eyes that Beca has obviously inherited.

"Hi I'm Chloe Beale, the one you spoke to on the phone. Beca's this way."

Chloe wasted no time with introductions as she knew right not all Rachel wanted to see was her daughter.

"She is fine we think and the doctors say she should recover well. I'm so sorry we couldn't contact you earlier, we didn't have your number and Dr Mitchell still isn't responding."

Chloe realised that they had got to the ward that Beca was in.

"Sorry we will leave you two alone" Chloe signalled to Aubrey and Stacie that they should all leave, the three Bellas walked out of the ward and into the corridor.

"Oh my god her and Beca are like split images of each other!"

"Well S she is her mother, some resemblance is expected"

It was only now that Chloe had a chance to think about something other than Beca she noticed the close proximity of Aubrey and Stacie. Not to mention the nicknames, Chloe raised her eyebrow at Aubrey before deciding she should investigate further before calling them out on whatever it was they were doing.

The nurse that had previously kicked out Jesse was back

"Hi girls, the lady at Becas bedside… presumably her mother or elder sister wants you to go and see her"

Chloe noticed a name badge on her uniform

"Thanks Alison, and thanks for everything else too"

Then the three girls wandered in to find Rachel at the foot of her bed, she didn't look too happy.

…

Thanks guys for all the reviews, it makes such a difference when you know people enjoy what you are reading, if you spot any mistakes or anything then please let me know, I try to spot them but can't see them all!

Any questions are welcome and I will do my best to keep updating as often as possible.

Much love,

Em


	5. Chapter 5

"Is everything ok Mrs Mitchell?" Chloe was concerned, maybe Jesse was right and it was her fault. She didn't think she could ever live with herself if Becas mum held her responsible for Becas stabbing.

"Well except for the fact my daughter is in a hospital bed and you aren't calling me Rachel like I asked everything is fine!" Rachel cracked a smile "don't worry Girls I'm not mad at you, in fact quite the opposite. Nurse Miller told me all about how Beca may not be alive if it wasn't for your quick thinking and although I am slightly annoyed the hospital didn't think it was necessary for them to contact either of us I am more annoyed at Andy for not being here even after you called him."

Chloe, Stacie and Aubrey shared a relieved look.

"Oh girls I'm so sorry if you thought you were in trouble, but right now I need to send someone to go and find my useless ex so if you will excuse me I have some phone calls to make."

Rachel made her way outside the ward but the girls could see her pacing up and down just behind the doors occasionally pointing through the doors to where Beca was still sleeping.

Chloe sat down besides Beca.

"You guys don't have to stay if you don't want to; I'm fine here by myself."

"Don't be silly Chlo, although now you mention it I am pretty hungry, I saw a Sushi place as we drove here so I will go and pick us some up. Stace you coming or you can keep Chloe company if you want?"

"No I'll be fine, both of you go, I need a little time to relax you know, a lot has gone on recently, and also ask Mrs M if she wants anything on your way out"

Aubrey didn't look convinced but both girls walked out of the ward anyway.

Now Chloe was alone she had more time to think about the situation. What Jesse had said wasn't true right? I mean it was her fault they were at that carnival but she couldn't have known what was going to happen. Then again she did know how determined Beca was, she should have seen the chase coming the second they had heard the woman shouting, and she should have been able to keep up with Beca.

Oh god she definitely could have stopped it, anything she had done would have changed the outcome of the evening. Why hadn't she just suggested they go out bowling or have a meal, no instead she had to ruin everything once again and now Beca was paying for her stupid mistakes.

Chloe hadn't noticed she had started crying but now she had she couldn't stop. The tears formed a stream down her face painting her cheeks with salt. Chloe heard footsteps behind her and hid her face from whoever it was approaching.

"Oh Chloe, come here."

Chloe looked up and through the tear induced haze could see Aubrey standing in front of her. She took her hand and guided her into a hug.

"Brey this is all my fault, the whole thing was my idea and Beca nearly died because of it"

"Hey don't go thinking things like that, Beca is as stubborn as a mule and would have probably ended up being the hero wherever we went. It was just unfortunate that that idiot came armed with a knife; Beca is going to be ok Chlo. She is a fighter"

"What if she isn't, they said she would survive but what happens if she is paralysed or something horrible like that. How would she ever forgive me?"

"Because she loves you"

Chloe's head shot up and she stepped away to look Aubrey in the eyes. "What?"

"Chloe you are probably the closest friend she has got, how could she not? We all love you, even if you have no real concept of personal space, now come here you were keeping me warm."

The girls stayed there for a while when Chloe spotted the sushi on the side.

"Oh I'm so sorry Brey, I'm not that hungry anymore so you can finish it if you want. Hey where did Stacie go anyway? Wasn't she with you?"

"Yeah but we passed her grandmothers house on the way back from the sushi place so I dropped her off, I'll go and get her when she texts me"

It was a couple of hours later when Mrs Mitchell came round to the bedside.

"As it turns out Andy had taken the weekend off with Sheila and didn't think to have any way of contacting him whatsoever. Beca's aunt is on her way to get them now so she should be back in a couple of hours. In the mean time I am going to order some pizza, you girls want some? My treat."

How could they say no to that?

So half an hour later the 3 women were tucking into the food in the hospital courtyard and Aubrey and Rachel started talking about the Bellas

"So remind me what this group does, it's a singing group isn't it?"

"That's correct, we are an a cappella group and we sing all over the world and we compete in national championships"

"Wow that's impressive girls, so Beca is involved with this now too huh?"

"Yeah, well we asked her to audition at the activities fair but she declined, Chloe managed to talk her round though and now we are all a team."

Chloe had drifted off during the conversation but when her name was mentioned she tried to focus on what the others were talking about.

"Chloe? Are you ok?"

"Yeah fine"

Chloe was not fine and Aubrey could clearly see that but decided not to press the issue as Rachel was still with them.

Pretty soon the pizza was all finished up and the women went back inside to be greeted by 2 policemen.

"Hello ladies, would you mind talking to us about what happened last night, we think we should get it done now while it is all fresh in your mind."

"That would be fine with us officers, right Chloe?"

"Oh yeah fine with me"

"It would be easier if we did this down at the police station if that's ok with you?"

Rachel interrupted at that.

"Officers that's perfectly fine with me but I will need them returned here at the end of it."

"Ma'am that is fine with us, are you girls riding with us or driving yourselves"

The girls decided that hopefully this would be their only chance to ride in the back of a police car so they took it down to the station. They were split up and Chloe found herself in a room not unlike the interrogation rooms you see on TV programmes.

"We just need you to go over the events leading up to and including the stabbing, I'm sorry we had to split you up but we can get a better picture if you both tell it separately."

Chloe told the officers all about that night, starting with the bucking bronco and the chase that ensued when they had heard the woman shouting.

"Do you have any idea what he looked like?"

"I'm sorry, he was facing away from us the whole time and it was pretty dark so I didn't really get a good chance to look at him. He was wearing a black hoodie though and black jeans. I think he was about 6ft but apart from that I can't really tell you much else. Sorry"

"That's perfect thank you."

The officer escorted Chloe to the car where Aubrey was already waiting for them.

"We will be able to look at CCTV around the vicinity to see if we can spot anyone matching that description but in the meantime keep thinking and if you remember anything else do not hesitate to call us. This is my card so just call any time. Could you also let us know when Rebecca wakes up so we can speak to her?"

"She goes by Beca normally but I will do sir, thanks for the lift"

They had arrived back in the hospital so they said their goodbyes and walked towards the east wing. Chloe and Aubrey looked at each other warily; from around the next corner they could hear raised voices.

"Well maybe if you had thought about someone other than yourself then you wouldn't have found out about this more than 24 hours after it happened"

"This is not my fault! I left instructions on how to reach me if anyone needed to; you just seem to not want me involved in Becas life"

"Did you even check your phone; her best friends had been trying frantically to call you since it happened. They searched for you everywhere on campus and only after I got here did they stop trying to contact you. It's a miracle you're even here, you don't deserve to be involved in her life, if you want to be her father then you had better start acting like it"

"Hey lay off him will you, he doesn't have to answer to you anymore" Chloe and Aubrey poked their heads round the corner; this new woman had to be Sheila.

"He does have to answer to me when the matter concerns our daughter! He abandoned her when he left her for you the first time and now he has done it again so don't you dare tell me what he can and can't do."

Chloe realised that this wasn't really any of their business.

"Brey… Don't you think we should find another way round? I don't really think this is meant to be overheard"

"I agree, let's go around but first I need to pop to my car to get some stuff."

It wasn't long until the girls were back by Beca's side; they noticed a few more cards had arrived from various people. Aubrey had picked up her laptop from her car, she grabbed a chair from across the ward and was soon typing away at an essay due in on the Monday.

"Sorry Chlo but I can't put everything on hold because Beca is ill. I would still like to pass this semester."

"No its fine I get it, if you want to go back to Barden then I would totally understand, I don't have any work due in for the next couple of days so I will stay here."

"I'll stay until I have classes, that's the whole reason that I brought my laptop, anyway I also want some help with the Bellas set list"

Aubrey hadn't actually thought of that until now but guessed that Chloe might need something to concentrate on until Beca was well enough to keep her distracted. As predicted Chloe was pretty shocked but that soon turned to excitement.

"Seriously? Ohh that I can help you with, in fact I was just thinking the other day about an idea for the songs. I can't remember it right now but I'm sure it will come to me."

Chloe yawned and laid her head on Beca's bed and was fast asleep by the time Rachel came back in 10 minutes later.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the sunlight coming through the blinds that woke Chloe up the next morning, she rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the light and noticed that Aubrey was gone but couldn't find it within herself to go and find her. She studied Beca's face, it was odd not seeing her with that distinctive black eye make up on and they had taken her piercings out. There was a piece of hair in front of her eyes so Chloe reached across and tucked it behind her ear.

"Oh Becs I'm so sorry you're here, you should be in that radio station playing your music for the campus not here in this hell hole. Don't worry though because we are going to catch that asshole that put you here and make his life a living nightmare, well not me, Aubrey can do that because let's face it she is pretty scary"

Chloe chuckled, she was definitely glad Aubrey was her friend but even she wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her.

"What are you laughing at Beale?

Chloe froze before realising that Aubrey couldn't have heard what she had been saying to Beca or she would have probably tipped her off her chair. Chloe sat up to see the rest of the Bellas with Aubrey.

"Oh nothing… Hey guys, what are you all doing here?"

"Well it may surprise you to know that you're not the only one that likes Beca" Chloe stood up as fat Amy came closer and without any warning she enveloped her in a hug "how are you holding up?"

Chloe backed out of the hug and mumbled something about being fine, she was fine, except for when she thought back to that night too much.

"Well we thought we would cheer you up by keeping you company for a bit; it must be a little lonely being the only one here most of the time."

"Oh please guys it's only been 2 days and Aubrey's been here some of the time, I've also met Rachel who is Beca's mum and I think her dad eventually showed up last night although god knows where he is now…"

"Yeah still, we are much better company than all of that, now where can I grab a chair, this whole standing up thing can be counted as cardio if we do it for much longer."

Soon the girls were all seated around Beca's bed chatting about the Bellas which then turned into bitching about the Trebles. There was a lapse in conversation before Cynthia rose spoke up

"Yeah …umm… we all heard about the whole Jesse thing"

Aubrey shot Chloe an apologetic look but Chloe just smiled and shook her head, it didn't matter, they were all friends and would have found out anyway.

"Its fine guys, he was an asshole but he was hurting so I'm sure he didn't mean any of it"

"He wasn't the only one hurting though Chlo, anyone with eyes could see that you were upset too, he was really insensitive about the whole thing"

Chloe should have known Aubrey would not forgive this easily.

"It's fine really, I'm over it. He is a man and they are all oblivious at the best of times"

"Amen to that"

There were nods all around the group and soon the convocation had moved onto lighter topics such as that new TV show, Rising Star. Soon it was lunch time and the Bellas went out to get food, Chloe wanted to wait behind with Beca.

"Pick me up something too; anything with chicken right now would be great"

And so Chloe was left with Beca again.

"Ok well I may as well do some research while they are gone; god knows how long they are going to be"

Chloe grabbed Aubrey's laptop and sat down next to Beca.

"Right where do I start? Oh god now I'm talking to myself…"

Then there was a raspy voice from besides Chloe "that's the first sign of going crazy you know"

"Beca? Oh my god! You're awake"

Chloe couldn't help herself, tears of joy rolled down her face as she took Beca's hand. She caught the eye of Alison and signalled for some water.

"Hey don't you even move, the nurse is getting you some water and the other Bellas have gone out to get lunch, they will be back soon but I can tell them all to leave if you aren't ready for Aubrey's crazy right now."

Beca laughed at that but it came out as more of a scratchy croak.

"Ok so no more humour for you either…"

Fortunately the nurse had come back with water and slowly sat Beca up in her bed.

"Your mother and father are outside, do you want me to go and get them?"

Beca nodded not quite trusting herself to speak yet, she did wonder what had happened that had enabled her parents to sit in the same room without killing each other but right now she was just happy that they were.

Chloe stood up ready to leave when the grip on her hand tightened. She turned back to see Beca looking at her pleadingly as if asking her to stay.

"Hey your parents are coming in so it wouldn't be right for me to stay but I will be just outside the door."

Chloe let go of her hand, she was about to walk away when she turned back and placed a soft kiss to Beca's forehead.

"Back soon okay?"

Beca was still not quite with it but the kiss had sent tingles all down her body. She nodded still not trusting herself to speak and then Chloe was gone.

Rachel and Adam were just walking in to the ward as Chloe left; she gave them both a small smile. They must be going through a tough time and if she completely ignored Adam then she was just as bad as him.

Chloe sat down just outside the ward when she saw a group of Bellas walking towards her, she stood up but apparently she still had tears on her face because they all ran up to her and started demanding to know what was wrong. Chloe just laughed and their looks of worry all turned to confusion.

"Beca woke up."

"Oh my god! When?"

"Why aren't you in there?"

"Is she ok?"

"What did she say to you?"

"Girls I know you're happy but there are people here who are trying to rest so could you maybe keep it down a bit. Thanks"

All of the girls looked around sheepishly at the other people in the waiting room whispering sorry to them.

"I was just sitting there talking to myself and I guess she heard me"

There was an overwhelming feeling of joy among the Bellas – they could stop worrying about Beca so much now she was conscious. Aubrey decided that they would all celebrate once Beca had left the hospital but for now they should probably leave Beca to her family. They all got ready to leave when Chloe sat down outside the ward.

"I'm sorry guys you go without me; I just want to check that she is ok. I don't have any lectures tomorrow so I can stay here overnight if it gets too late to drive home, I'll see you at Bellas practice."

Aubrey was about to speak up and tell her it was stupid to stay when a warm hand on her shoulder and voice in her ear.

"If she wants to stay then let her, I would do the same for you."

Aubrey she glanced back she gave Chloe a small smile in understanding before allowing herself to be led away.

Chloe watched her walk away before remembering that she said she would contact the policeman, the time was coming up to 9pm though so he probably wouldn't want to be bothered now and neither would Beca. "I'll leave it till the morning before I call him, that way Beca will have a bit more rest before being plunged into the investigation." Chloe thought, and with that decision made she made herself more comfortable and shut her eyes waiting for her chance to go in and see Beca.

Fortunately she didn't have to wait very long as Rachel soon came out followed swiftly by Adam.

"I thought you might have stayed, you can go in and see her now but don't stay too long, she needs to rest so we are going home now."

They said their goodbyes and Chloe headed towards Becas bedside, she was sitting up in bed and managed a weak smile as she saw Chloe. She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and took hold of Becas hand.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I've been better but ok considering everything that happened I think I'm ok, I can't actually remember much from that night though."

"Well what can you remember? There was a police officer that wanted to talk to you but I thought I would phone him tomorrow to let him know you are awake if that's ok?"

"Honestly I don't think I would be able to tell him anything useful, I know I chased after someone that had taken a ladies purse but the rest I have no idea what happened. Did I get the purse back? I don't want all of this to be for nothing."

Chloe just laughed; of course Beca would be more concerned about a stranger's purse than her own health.

"yeah I think it got back to her fine, you threw it towards us before chasing after that man, god knows why you did that, nothing good can come from chasing a thief… sorry you probably didn't want to wake up to being nagged by me did you?"

"You could do anything to me and I'd be happy"

Chloe's eyebrows shot up and Beca seemed to realise what she had just said as a blush crept up her face.

Chloe just laughed, "I will definitely keep that in mind"

"Keep your mind out of the gutter Red, you know what I meant"

"But it is so much more fun to see you get all flustered"

Beca stuck her tongue out before trying to supress a yawn; needless to say she didn't do very well as Chloe immediately stood up.

"I'm going to go now as you need to get some rest but I will be back in the morning."

"Wait! Sorry, would you mind maybe sitting with me until I fall asleep"

"Oh Beca of course"

Despite a lot of protesting on Beca's part Chloe helped her lie down before turning off her bedside light and sitting down beside her.

The second Becas head hit the pillow she couldn't even open her eyes and before long she had drifted off into a deep sleep.

Chloe watched as Beca fell asleep, she smiled to herself glad that Beca was finally on the road to recovery. Chloe waited until she was sure that Beca was fully asleep when she got up ready to leave, she brushed some hair from in front of Becas face and pressed a light kiss to her cheek. Then she headed home for the first time since Beca was admitted to hospital.

…

HurriCADE – well spotted! I think I took a break from writing there so there may well be some continuity errors, sorry! I have edited it but if you spot any more feel free to let me know!

Thanks

xx


	7. Chapter 7

_Beca saw a dark shadow shift around the corner, she had to follow him, he just stole from another person and she had to find out who it was. Surely the police would already be on their way so if she could just hold him up for a minute then he would be caught._

_She sprinted round the corner and saw him standing there. _

_There was a flash in his hand. A blade. _

_Beca turned to run but there was nowhere to go, she screamed out. _

_The man was closer now; she could nearly see his face but it was shrouded in darkness. _

_Then stabbing pain in her side, she called out but no sound was made. _

_She welcomed the darkness enveloped her vision. _

Beca sat bolt upright and was just able to supress the scream in the back of her throat. That dream was entirely too realistic for her liking. Her breathing was still far too fast and Beca concentrated on slowing it down to a normal pace.

Now that her heart rate was slowing Beca was able to calm down, the rest of the ward was quiet. It was still dark outside and the clock on her bedside table told Beca that it was just before 5am, way too early to be up. Beca lay back and faced the ceiling; she shut her eyes and tried to clear her head. There is no way she would sleep if she couldn't get her brain to shut up for more than a few minutes. Beca lay staring the ceiling desperately trying to nod off, it was only when the sun was just coming over the horizon that she finally was able to drift off to sleep.

Beca awoke to the sound of hushed voices, she quickly figured out that they were talking about her and listened in.

"So she will be ok to come home in about a 4 days?" Beca knew that voice anywhere, her mum was back.

"Yes that's about right but will need to take good care of herself for 2 to 3 weeks after she gets home. All of this will be explained to her once she is ready to go home."

4 days! That was perfect, Beca had been under the impression that she would be here for a couple of weeks recuperating and wasn't sure if she could last that long.

"I guess you won't need to as she is already awake and heard what was said."

Beca rolled over to face the two women talking, "how did you know I had woken up?"

"Oh sweetie, I think you're forgetting that I'm your mother, we just know these things. How are you feeling?"

"Ok I guess, a little hungry though." Beca sat up in bed so she could see the two women a bit better, as soon as she said this the nurse wandered off presumably in search of breakfast.

"Im so happy to see you awake, it scared the life out of me knowing that you might not be ok."

"Mum really I'm ok, I wasn't actually sure I would see you today, I thought you had work?"

"Darling you are much more important to me than my job, we are actually in the middle of a contract but I can do it all from my phone as my assistants are in the office all week, I told them we were having a family crisis and if they didn't let me have the week off then I would quit!"

"Oh wow, you didn't have to do that you know, I am 18 now I will be fine by myself, anyway I'm sure some of my friends will come and see me later…"

As Beca was speaking she saw a flash of orange from behind her mum, there was only one person she knew with hair that glowed like the sun.

"Speak of the devil here she is now"

Chloe looked up to see Beca glancing at her over her mother's shoulder and she couldn't supress the smile that spread across her face, she could see that a similar smile was now being worn by the DJ.

"Hey, I stopped on my way to get you a bacon sandwich on my way over, I wasn't sure if you had eaten already. If you have then that's fine I can bin it."

"If you throw that I swear I will never speak to you again, I didn't want to complain about hospital food but this is definitely a big improvement, thanks Red"

"Sorry Mrs Mitchell, if I had known you were going to be here then I would have bought you one as well."

"Chloe its fine, I have already eaten, if you girls want me to leave you alone then I can go and wait outside."

"Mum you might as well just go to work, I will be fine with Chloe here and I know you are playing down its importance so go, I will call you if I need anything"

Rachel looked hesitant and signalled for Chloe to follow her outside, over her shoulder Chloe shrugged at Beca before hurrying after Mrs Mitchell.

"Now it's not that I don't trust Becas judgement but I am worried that she wouldn't tell me if something was wrong. She always puts other people's needs before her own and I just want to be there for her if she really needs me, I also don't want to suffocate her by hanging around if she doesn't need me. I just need you to call me if anything is wrong, no matter what it is I need to know so I can get her."

"Don't worry Mrs M I will let you know if anything changes, I'm sure she will be fine though."

"Thank you and I will be back for lunch so don't go too crazy!"

And with that Rachel turned and walked away, Chloe turned back to the ward happy to be spending her whole day doing nothing with Beca.

"What did she want to talk to you about? I hope she wasn't too embarrassing"

"Oh nothing much, she doesn't think you are being entirely truthful with how you are feeling so if you start dying on me then I have been instructed to phone her. Now we can do whatever you want later but first I need to phone that policeman, then I can stop worrying that I will forget to call him. We can't have you risking your life for no reason can we?"

Beca just rolled her eyes, she couldn't remember anything useful so there would be no point in them coming and just as she was about to voice this she was interrupted.

"And don't even think about getting out of it, I am going to phone him now."

And with that Chloe got up and walked back out of the ward phone in hand.

When she came back in Beca was busy muttering under her breath, all Chloe could pick up was something about stupid policeman. She knelt down by the bed and took Beca's hand,

"Look sweetie I know this sucks but after he has asked his questions then he won't need to come back but in the meantime is there anything you need me to get you that would make it up to you?"

Beca started down at their joined hands before a small smile graced her lips.

"I hope this isn't too much to ask but I saw Aubrey's laptop when I woke up and I was wondering if you could bring mine down, I was working on some mixes before the funfair and I thought I might as well try and complete them while I am here."

"Of course I can do that! It would be a crime to not have Beca Mitchell working on her mixes even if it is from a hospital bed."

Beca looked up just in time to see Chloe send a wink her way, a warm fuzzy feeling spread around her body, not wanting to analyse that feeling too much Beca forced her mind onto the matter at hand. A policeman was coming to hear her side of the story and she had nothing to tell. It was just going to be embarrassing.

"I can stay if you want or I can wait outside while you are interviewed. Whatever you prefer really…"

Beca weighed up the pros and cons of having Chloe with her.

Pros – Chloe is with her. Keeping her safe, holding her hand, kissing her forehead and cheeks and maybe… wait where were those thoughts coming from? Moving on…

Cons – is there any?

Well that was fairly easy to make a decision. She was about to tell Chloe to stay with her when she noticed a police officer walking towards them both. He was in his 40s with short mousey brown hair and soft facial features, he looked much nicer than Beca had imagined.

"Hi Rebecca, I'm Eddie, Chloe phoned me to let me know you were awake so I think it's probably best that we get your version of events before you forget them if you feel comfortable doing it now."

"Yeah that's fine with me, can Chloe stay with me though?"

"Of course she can, now I need to record all of it so let me just turn this on and then we can start, right so why don't you start from what you were doing just before you heard the woman shout."

Beca told the story exactly how it happened right up until when she got into the alleyway.

"I'm really sorry but I don't remember anything else, the next thing I knew I was in hospital."

"That is perfectly alright, now I wanted to speak to you about going to see a therapist, she could just be someone you talk to about the incident and maybe she could help you remember what happened that night. It is totally up to you but it is highly recommended that you see her even if it is only for a couple of sessions. This is her card so you can call it if you decide you want to and this is my card just in case you remember anything else about that night."

Eddie handed over a couple of cards and bid his goodbyes.

Chloe, who had been sat silently by Beca's side the entire time listening, now had questions, a girl can only keep quiet for so long.

"Are you going to go to the therapist then?"

"I don't know Red, I'm not sure I want to remember that night, maybe I can't remember it for a reason."

"I know Becs but you went after him for a reason and I don't think it was to be stabbed, you wanted to find out who it was and maybe this is a way to do that, much less risky of course."

"Yeah I guess so, I will think about it ok?"

Beca was reluctant to go but maybe Chloe was right, she didn't have much time to dwell on it though because soon her mother was strutting back through the ward.

….

I pictured the policeman as Edward Kerr for anyone that was interested.


	8. Chapter 8

"I hope you haven't been up to too much mischief. I saw that policeman walking out of here; presumably he was talking to you girls, have there been any developments?"

"Not that we know of, he came to ask what happened. He wants me to go and see a therapist."

A smirk crossed Rachel's face

"Is that for help with the investigation or because you are crazy for running after a thief?"

"Haha mum very funny…" Beca deadpanned

Chloe tried in vain to keep a neutral expression but when Beca glanced at her she saw straight through it.

"And no laughing from you either Miss Beale." Although Beca's lips were beginning to curve upwards at the edges, she turned back to her mum. "He thinks it will make me remember that night more and I might be able to identify him."

"That is very true, I think it would be a very good thing for you to do but don't feel forced into it, there would be no point in going if you didn't want to."

Chloe silently agreed with this and then the topic moved onto lighter subjects before Rachel interrupted.

"Sorry girls I came here to have lunch with you and haven't bought anything. How stupid of me, I will go out and get us some sandwiches now."

Fortunately they didn't have to wait very long for Mrs Mitchell to get back and soon they were all tucking into lunch.

"Actually while I was out I realised that you are the reason that Beca is still alive and I haven't even thanked you for it."

"Really it was nothing, I'm sure anyone else in my position would have done the sa…"

"Now I will not be having any of that modesty, what you did was heroic and as a thank you I would like to invite you round to have dinner with myself and Beca. I will leave it up to you two to organise a date but I will not take no for an answer."

"Thank you, I'm sure we will be able to find a day that we are all free." Chloe didn't think there was much point in protesting and she didn't want to get on the wrong side of Mrs Mitchell, she was sure that she would be fearsome.

"Perfect, now I am afraid that I won't be able to stay much longer as I have a meeting at 2. I'd been back for about half an hour and they just gave me a mountain of work."

Rachel walked round and gave Beca a hug before turning round to Chloe expectantly, Chloe stood up and was given a rather unexpected hug by the older brunette.

Rachel then turned on her heels and left.

"I hope that wasn't too traumatising… she can be quite intense sometimes."

"Actually I think she is great, the hug was a bit of a surprise, a nice surprise though"

"Yeah you would have thought with a mother like her I would be used to having people invade my personal space."

Without saying a word Chloe spun round and walked towards Beca's bedside and lent slowly inwards. Beca watched intently as Chloe got closer, she stopped when their noses were nearly touching, Beca could feel warmth radiating off Chloe as she completely invaded her senses. The blue eyes that pierced her own had a spark of mischievousness in them. Suddenly Chloe backed off and grinned.

"You seem to be ok with me being in your personal space"

"I don't think I have much choice do I?" Beca was still trying to breathe normally but was pleased that she managed to sound normal when replying; clearly her incident had had some effect on her heart or something.

Meanwhile Chloe was kicking herself, what was that? She is going to think you are such a freak just sticking your face in hers like that. You need to control yourself.

Chloe was about to mutter some sort of apology when she was interrupted by someone entering the ward.

Chloe spun around in time to see Mr Mitchell approaching the bedside.

"Hi Chloe, I want to have some time with Beca now so could you go outside?"

Chloe looked over at Beca who glanced up as if to say just go before staring back down at her hands, so Chloe walked out, not before casting a glance over her shoulder to make sure Beca was ok.

Beca hadn't actually spoken to her father since he moaned about her not getting involved with college life , unless you counted when he came in and told her to get lots of rest.

"I heard that you are going to see a therapist about the attack. I'm not sure it's a good idea."

Beca was sure she must have heard wrong, how would they ever find who did it if she couldn't remember?

"I just don't want you to have to remember it, I think you need to put this whole incident behind you, you can't be held up on it forever so maybe you just move on."

"But what about the guy who stabbed me? He might not be caught if I don't go"

"he might not be caught anyway Beca and he might be caught if you don't help, all I'm saying is you don't know how it will turn out but this way you can move on."

Beca was beginning to get annoyed now.

"Well what happens if he attacks someone else and I could have stopped it?"

"Beca really I know he could stab someone else but I think he wouldn't have stabbed you if you hadn't run after him."

"Wait a minute, you think it is my fault that I was stabbed?" Beca asked incredulously.

"All I'm saying is that it could have been prevented had you not gone after him."

"Are you kidding me?!"

Chloe had approached the two arguing when she saw Beca getting upset through the window; she had had a bad feeling about Mr Mitchell being there. She was absolutely furious about what she had heard the man say.

"Maybe if the man hadn't been carrying a knife then the situation would have been prevented, or if he hadn't tried to take that poor woman's bag to start with. What Beca did was heroic and you can't seem to understand that the fault was in the attacker not your own daughter. Why are you so willing to blame her?"

Chloe was full on shouting now but she didn't care, there were few things that got her this riled up but victim blaming was one of them.

"Did she deserve it is that what you are saying? Because she wanted to lead her own life and not the one you planned out for her?"

Chloe would have happily kept screaming at Mr Mitchell but Alison had come up and interrupted her.

"I really think it best that you leave sir, all of the arguing is making the other patients uneasy."

Mr Mitchell looked at Alison as though she had grown an extra head.

"I'm sorry but can you explain to me why I should be leaving and not this immature young woman, she after all is doing all of the shouting." He asked in contempt

"Yes I am aware of that sir but honestly I heard the discussion you were having and it seems to me as though you were harassing one of our patients and it is our priority to keep them safe and comfortable, have a safe journey and goodbye."

And with that Alison led Mr Mitchell out of the hospital doors and Chloe and Beca were left alone once more.

Beca was sure if she even tried to speak that she would burst into tears at any moment, she needed to get herself under control, think about puppies, remixing songs, Chloe's smile, anything just don't cry.

Chloe had noticed this and despite the position being awkward she wrapped her arms around Beca and whispered softly in her ears.

"Don't worry about him; he was talking out of his arse. You are the funniest most amazing person that I know and I wish I had half of the courage you had. But this whole thing is not your fault and I am sorry he was such a dick."

Chloe wasn't sure if she was making it any better by insulting Beca's father but she was still reeling about what was said.

The two girls sat there in silence. Beca wasn't sure how long it was but it was long enough that the tears that threatened to spill were now all gone. Instead she was now focused on the incredible feeling of being wrapped in Chloe's arms. There was a smell of oranges and that Chloe smell that surrounded the girl and it made Beca feel a bit giddy. She took a deep breath that unfortunately Chloe took as Beca being ready to be let go.

"I'm really sorry about my dad, he has always had those views, it's part of the reason my parents aren't together anymore."

"You don't have to go into it you know; I wouldn't want you to relive it unnecessarily."

"No its fine, there isn't actually that much to go into to be honest but I guess you need the back story too. Well my parents were really good friends with this other family, they had known each other for ages. They had a daughter who was older than me, this was about 5 years ago and I think she was 20 at the time; anyway she was walking home from a party one night and was approached by this group of guys. I don't know exactly what happened but … oh my god… one of them sexually assaulted her."

Beca had never really thought too much about it before but now she was telling the story she was able to put the pieces together better and she felt sick to her stomach.

Chloe reached to hold Beca's hand in an attempt to comfort her, Beca noticing the hand hold was drawn back to the present and continued.

"Well from what I could work out the mother felt as though she was to blame, my mother spent a lot of time at their house from then on. My parents just started arguing about every little thing but I think it was the attack that was the catalyst for it all. My dad thought that it was partially to blame on Lily and from there they never really recovered."

"Oh I'm sorry sweetie; parents can be real jerks without even realising it."

"I used to lock myself in my room and work on my mixes when they argued, a bit ironic really since my dad hates me DJ-ing but he this part of the cause."

"Yeah but you are going to prove him wrong, you are going to be the best DJ the world has ever seen and make millions doing it"

Beca raised her eyes to meet Chloe's and the sides of her mouth curved upwards.

"That was so cheesy you know that? But thanks"

"Yeah but you know me, I love all of that mushy stuff"

Beca was too busy thinking of a sarcastic come back to notice Aubrey and Stacie approaching the bed.

"Hey aca-bitches how's it going" Aubrey was first to speak – as usual

"Great actually, we found out that Beca can come home soon so things can get back to normal"

Stacie glanced at Aubrey before butting in "Actually that's perfect but we were wondering…" she took another side glance at Aubrey and placed her hand on Aubrey's shoulder "if you wanted to help with the set list"

Becas eyebrows shot up not quite being able to believe what she was hearing; she glanced at Aubrey who seemed to have a pained expression.

"Yeah well we _all _agreed that it was best…" Aubrey gave a small eye roll before interrupting Stacie.

"We needed something original if we were going to win and the girls seemed up for hearing some of your mixes so I'm happy to compromise."

"Well I don't know if you wanted to hear them now but I have been working on a couple of mixes that the girls might want to hear…" Beca leant over to the bedside table and quickly booted up her computer.

She glanced up quickly to see Stacie step behind Aubrey and place her hands on her shoulders. Beca had the impression that this was a private moment and stared back at her computer screen and pulled up the relevant files.

Looking up again she could see that Aubrey's head had rolled back and Stacie's hands had gone a little lower than Aubrey's back.

"Um so…"

Aubrey jumped away from Stacie and walked over to the bedside.

"These are some of the mixes I have but if you give me a song that you particularly want to include then I might be able to see what I can do. Also I need to play them quite quietly because of the other patients"

Beca then pressed play. Chloe's mouth fell open in amazement, she had known that Beca was talented but this was something else. There were no doubts in her mind that this is what Beca should be doing.

Aubrey meanwhile was having trouble processing the fact that the mixes were any good at all; she had presumed that the others had just wanted Beca to feel included so she went along with it.

"Well I think we have found our set list."

Beca was stunned. This wasn't even one of her best ones but if it meant that they wouldn't have to be singing that other rubbish then she was happy to use even her worst mashup.

The girls stayed for a little longer and discussed alternatives before they all realised that they couldn't make decisions on behalf of the other girls. They agreed to all meet up tomorrow to have a real chance to get the lists decided. Beca didn't know why they couldn't just wait an extra couple of days until she was out but Aubrey insisted that it needed to be done now.

As soon as the Bellas had left Beca collapsed in her bed, it had been an exhausting day.


	9. Chapter 9

_Beca was running again, she could see the man up ahead. His black hoodie covered his head but as he turned into the alleyway she caught a glimpse of his hair. It was quite long and a sort of dark brown colour, or was that the lighting? Beca spun round the corner to see him again, there was the blade. _

_Beca opened her mouth to scream but no noise came out. The man was closer now but his face was still out of view. The cold wall pressed against her back and Beca was plunged into darkness. _

Beca woke with a gasp, the hospital was still dark and the dream still haunted her in the back of her mind. She glanced at the clock only to discover it was only 4am.

Well there is no way in hell she was waiting till morning so Beca settled back into bed and waited for sleep to overcome her again.

There were no more dreams, or should she refer to them as a recurring nightmare? Beca woke up to the sound of pattering feet, so far her time here had been filled with the other Bellas and her parents but now she had a chance to look around she spotted a guy on the other side of the ward who was carefully regarding her.

"Can I help you?"

"Sorry… never mind" the guy found a spot on his plate to stare at.

Beca suddenly felt bad, "no no, I'm sorry, I'm not exactly what you would call a morning person… was there anything you wanted?"

"I just noticed that you weren't sleeping very well… I was wondering why?"

Beca was surprised that anyone had noticed that she had been waking up in the middle of the night.

"You don't need to tell me; sorry you probably want to go back to bed."

"No no it's fine, I've not been sleeping that well, I just didn't think it had been that obvious."

Beca decided to just tell him what happened, there was no point in dancing around the issue anymore, there would be plenty of other people who she would have to tell, she might as well get used to telling people.

"I was stabbed. I thought I could get over it but every night I relive what happened. I don't know how to stop it."

The guy looked shocked.

"Damn, I thought you might have had insomnia or something, it is horrible having that though. I had a friend who was in a car crash and for months he dreamt about it, I think that it is quite a common thing to happen."

Beca suddenly became interested. Maybe this guy new how to stop the nightmares.

"So if your friend had them do you know how he stopped them? It's just I haven't had a good night sleep since it happened. Oh and I'm Beca by the way."

"Oh shit sorry I'm Kieran. I'm having heart surgery so they sent me in here for preparation and stuff; it's a little less exciting than your stabbing. I heard that you saved someone from being attacked."

"Yeah not quite, it wasn't that heroic. A lady had her purse stolen so I went after him"

Kieran looked a little confused before grinning.

"That sounds bloody heroic to me; there aren't many people who would put themselves in danger for a stranger."

A blush crept up Becas cheeks, she hadn't done anything particularly useful and now she was in hospital.

"Oh and I think eventually my friend went to a therapist and he taught him how to prevent the replaying of the crash. That's how he got it to stop, it did take him a while to go to it though, I think he was afraid that people would think he was a pussy for going to a shrink."

"Well I am already booked in to see a therapist about it anyway so I guess I could speak to her about it. Thanks, I'm not sure I could deal with having half nights of sleep for much longer."

Kieran grinned again,

"My pleasure; let me know how it goes and I hope they catch the fucker that got you."

With that he scribbled something down on a piece of paper and chucked it across the room. Beca had to duck to stop it hitting her between the eyebrows. She smoothed out the paper before putting in a book beside her bed.

"And if they do catch him I can always join you in court, be your bodyguard or something."

"What with a half working heart?" Beca flashed a cheeky smile at him

"I bet I could still take him though, anyway by then hopefully I will have a fully working heart. I've got my operation due in a couple of days, actually I think they are sending me in for some more scans this morning so I'll be out of your hair in a bit."

"Good luck with those then, do you know when you will be back? Only I'm leaving tomorrow."

"oh damn, I think It will only take a couple of hours but who knows if there is any mess ups, if I don't see you before I go then good luck with finding the little shit that put you here and I will see you in court."

As if on cue some nurses came in and got Kieran out of his bed and ushered him towards the door of the ward. Beca called after him to have fun, Kieran turned and just raised his eyebrows incredulously.

Beca watched him go and then entered the number into her phone before she forgot. It was then that she realised the Bellas would be there soon and some of the numbers she had made weren't quite done. She reached across to retrieve her laptop and was soon immersed in her mixes. So immersed in fact that she didn't see the Bellas approaching so when there was a tap on her shoulder she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Jesus Christ! Next time give me a bit of warning ok?"

Aubrey was the first to step in.

"Well if you weren't so engrossed in whatever it is you are doing maybe you would have heard us coming."

Beca looked up from her mixes not wanting to get on the wrong side of angry Aubrey to see her smiling at her. That was unusual.

She quickly got over the shock of Aubrey being in a good mood and moved on to explain that she had been making some mashups of different songs that she thought were good but she could always make some other ones if they had any particular requests.

"I think we should have titanium in one of them" Beca looked up as Chloe gave her a cheeky wink and felt heat pool between her thighs, she moved herself upright attempting to alleviate some of the pressure residing in her lower abdomen. Pushing it aside she realised with some embarrassment that she already had a mix that included titanium.

"I um…actually already have one…"

Beca scrolled through her music until she found the correct mix, she played it and the looks from the Bellas went from surprised to amazement.

"Aca-believe it Beca, this is some tight shit you've got here. This is awesome"

"Jees I didn't realise you were this good."

Lilly muttered something that Beca couldn't hear but Aubrey looked pleased with the choice.

"I'm not sure that we need to hear anymore songs if everyone is in agreement."

"Well I have some other ones that you could hear if you wanted."

There was a round of agreement that they should all at least hear the other ones.

"Yeah Aubrey, maybe the next one will be even better"

"Alright Amy, let's hear them then Beca"

And so Beca played through several mixes that she had been working on for the last couple of weeks. Beca glanced up from her screen to make eye contact with Stacie whose arms were wrapped around Aubrey's waist. Beca shot her a questioning look "I wonder when that happened…"she wondered.

Aubrey spoke and Beca was drawn back to the current issue.

"Right aca-bitches, I don't know about you but I have decided which one I prefer…."

Beca knew it was too good to be true that Aubrey had become less of a dictator. She was about to tell Aubrey that this was actually a team and the world didn't actually revolve around her when her thoughts were interrupted.

"Let's have a vote."

"Wait what?"

"Well how else do you suppose we chose the mix? Unless you would prefer it if I chose."

There was a hint of Wait a minute was Aubrey actually joking about something… when did she get so loosened up?

Beca stared at Aubrey and Stacie who were both still embracing and finally put two and two together.

"Oh god gross…"

Chloe gave Beca a curious look but apparently the rest of the Bellas hadn't heard her muttering, Beca supposed it was because they were all deciding which one they hated the least.

"We don't have to use any of these if you don't want to, I just wanted to show what we could do if we switched it up a bit. I don't want you to think that we have to do these."

There was a flurry of replies from the Bellas before Fat Amy interrupted everyone.

"You bet your skinny arse that we want these, let's get the voting done, I need to get lunch."

There was a murmur of agreement from the other Bellas and soon they had all decided on the track to use. It was the titanium one and Beca wasn't sure she was going to be able to sing that on stage when all she could think about was what the song meant for Chloe.

"Beca are you alright?"

The Bellas all stopped and stared at her and Beca could feel her face getting even hotter than it already was. She covered her face in her hands before mumbling that she was fine and they should probably just leave her.

Stacie was the first to speak up "Great idea, I could eat a horse I'm so hungry"

"Yeah I'd finish it like a cheesecake"

"You know what guys I'm going to stay here to download and have an extra look over the songs but you guys go. I'm not that hungry anyway."

There was little argument from the rest of the Bellas and they left Beca, Chloe and Aubrey alone to go and find some food.

As soon as they had left Aubrey spun to face Beca.

"So want to tell us what happened earlier? You seemed a little distracted…"

Beca knew exactly what she was talking about but knew that she would never get another chance to make Aubrey squirm quite like this. What just because they were getting along doesn't mean she wouldn't like to see her talk her way out of this one.

"Yeah I was just wondering when you and Stacie were planning on telling us what was going on between you two."

A multitude of emotions crossed Aubrey's face before she seemed to settle on ashamed. She turned to face Chloe.

"I'm so sorry Chlo. I was going to tell you but I didn't know what to say."

"Brey, I've been your best friend for how long now? I knew there was something going on between you two but didn't want to say anything in case you weren't ready."

Tears sprung to Aubrey's eyes. "Oh my god you don't know how scared I was to tell you…"

Aubrey's voice broke and Chloe moved to envelop her in a hug.

"Brey you should know me better than that, she clearly makes you happy so that's good enough for me."

Beca, who was watching the whole scene unfold, didn't know what to do when she was left with two crying girls hugging in front of her. She was about to speak when Chloe interrupted her. Her voice was muffled but Beca and Aubrey could still make out what was being said.

"Have you told your family yet?"

Aubrey's head shook in response.

"I didn't know how to, my dad would probably bury me alive"

"Hey you don't know that, he might come through…"

"Yeah, not everyone's dad has to be an asshole."

Aubrey wiped her eyes before releasing Chloe from the hug and turning to Beca.

"What do you mean?"

Beca didn't realise that she had said that out aloud.

"Um…. Nothing… just my dad hasn't exactly been particularly understanding with this whole thing" Beca fiddled with her fingers not wanting to have to relive that moment.

"Tell me everything"

Aubrey had gone to timid to downright scary in a matter of milliseconds.

"Chloe?" Beca looked up at her begging her to tell the story for her.

"Well do you want the long version or the short version?"

"Long, it's not like we don't have time."

So Chloe told Aubrey everything right from when Mr Mitchell arrived. Slowly throughout the story Aubrey got more and more angry and when Chloe had finished she was ready to explode.

"How. dare. he. Who does he think he is? I swear to god if I ever see that man again I will rip his head off."

And with that Aubrey stormed out of the ward.

"Do you not want to go and see if she's ok?"

"Oh no. even I'm not dumb enough to check on her now, she will be fine we just need to give her some time to stew. I would not like to be your dad right now though"

"me neither, I thought it was going to be bad enough with you hungry for his guts but Aubrey is much scarier than you could ever be."

Chloe started off in the direction that Aubrey had left before deciding it was probably not a wise move to leave an angry Aubrey alone when she knows her next target.

"You don't mind if I do go after her do you? I just don't quite know what she is capable of."

"No please do, I would rather not find out my dad is dead in a ditch somewhere, I'll be fine"

Chloe walked over to the Beca and lent in close. Their faces were inches apart and Beca couldn't help but stare down at Chloe's lips, I wonder what they taste like… Wait they were moving. What did she just say?

"Huh?"

Chloe chuckled before standing up and making her way towards the exit.

"Try not to get into any trouble I said, think you may need a hearing aid miss Mitchell"

Chloe gave a quick wink over her shoulder before exiting the ward.

Beca slumped back in her bed and tried desperately to slow down her breathing.

"You alright there Beca?"

She knew that voice without even opening her eyes but this was the last person Beca wanted to see right now.

"I'm fine Jesse." Beca snapped at him, the less time he was here the better; she didn't have the energy to deal with him right now.

"Wow sorry, I was just asking." Jesse pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. "Sorry I couldn't come and say hi sooner. I was busy doing stuff… I hope you haven't been too bored without me."

"Really it's fine, oh and I heard what you said to Chloe by the way"

Jesse's smirk was wiped from his face. "Oh yeah about that… I'm sorry. I was pretty upset when I found out that you were in here. I just wanted to see you and she wouldn't let me."

Beca could tell that he regretted what had happened.

"Thanks but I think you need to apologise to Chloe first before you approach the Bellas again, Aubrey was pretty mad."

"Aubrey's always mad; honestly that chick needs to get laid… that reminds me, when you are out of here you should let me take you out on a date, maybe dinner and a movie?"

Beca resisted the urge to roll her eyes; of course he would try and take her to a movie.

"Thanks Jesse but I think we are better off as just friends, I'm sorry but I just don't like you like that."

"Ok well you know what I will ask you when you are feeling a bit better, it must suck being in here all day long."

Beca honestly didn't have the energy to argue right now, she could do that when she was out of here and whilst she had company she might as well be civil to them.

"Yeah I am a bit bored but the girls have been to visit me and I'm working my way through these." She indicated to the growing pile of books on her bedside

Jesse picked up the first one and had a flick through when a piece of paper fell out of it. He lent down to pick it up.

"What's this?"

Realisation hit Beca like a train.

"Whose phone number is this? I've been waiting for you to get out of hospital all of this time, I've been respectful and done everything right and now you are friend zoning me for this piece of shit"

He was almost shouting now and was attracting attention from some of the other patients.

"Listen Jesse, you need to calm down. He is just a friend"

"Yeah it sure looks like it. I don't know why I ever thought you were worth my time, you're nothing but a filthy slut."

Beca didn't know how to respond, sure Jesse had been clueless at times but he had never been mean. She lowered her voice threateningly.

"Look if you are just going to sit there and insult me then you can just leave."

Jesse rose to his feet and for a split second Beca thought he was going to hit her, but he just turned and stormed out without saying another word.

Beca was fuming, how dare he come in here and insult her? She hadn't even done anything. Despite it still being early evening Beca was exhausted; physically, emotionally and mentally so she laid her head on her pillow and was asleep in minutes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This is what I based the Bellas final choice on :)

/chrisunga/acapella-mashup-titanium-wild

thank and keep reviewing!

xx


	10. Chapter 10

Hi Guys,

Sorry this isn't an update! I just wanted to let you all know that I will be on holiday until the end of august so I'm afraid there wont be any updates until September.

I have got several ideas planned for the plot though so i should be able to get them done fairly soon after im back.

Thanks for sticking with me this far.

xx


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